Abubakr Shekau also took aim at the leadership of
regional countries who are coordinating efforts against
the group
Nigeria's presidential election on March 28 will not take
place peacefully, AbuBakr Shekau, leader of Boko Haram,
has said in a new video purportedly released by the group.
In the video, released on social media on Tuesday and
obtained by US based SITE intelligence group, Shekau
issued a warning to the Goodluck Jonathan's government
that next month's elections would be disrupted with
violence.
"Allah will not leave you to proceed with these elections
even after us, because you are saying that authority is
from people to people, which means that people should
rule each other, but Allah says that the authority is only
to him, only his rule is the one which applies on this land,"
he said.
"And finally we say that these elections that you are
planning to do, will not happen in peace, even if that costs
us our lives.
In the video message, titled "A message to the leaders of
the disbelievers", the contents of which Al Jazeera has
not been able to independently verify, Shekau also takes
aim at the leadership of regional countries who are co-
ordinating efforts against the group.
"You are claiming that we don't know how to fight, but
we forced your forces to flee from their bases and we
freed our imprisoned brothers from the prisons that you
oppressed them in, only praise be to Allah."
Nigeria's presidential election was to be originally held on
February 14, but was postponed due to security concerns.
Speaking before Shekau's threat, Niger's President
Mahamadou Issoufou vowed that his country would herald
the end for the rebels, whose six-year insurgency has
cost more than 13,000 lives.
Renewed attacks
"Niger will be the death of Boko Haram," he told a
cheering crowd after a protest against the insurgents in
the capital Niamey.
But Boko Haram has proved resilient and experts question
whether the group can be overpowered in the short-term.
On Tuesday, two suicide attacks ripped through northeast
Nigeria, killing at least 38 people and injuring 20 others.
In a separate development, the United States military
said on Tuesday they would be providing communications
equipment and intelligence to help African nations in the
fight against Boko Haram.
Major General James Linder said that, as part of the
annual US-backed 'Flintlock' counter-terrorism exercises
this year in Chad, the United States would provide
technology allowing African partners to communicate
between cellphones, radios and computers.
The renewed attacks on Tuesday came as heads of states
from Central African countries were ending a meeting in
the Cameroonian capital, Yaounde, to plan the creation of
a joint military response to the growing regional threat
posed by Boko Haram.
The 10 member states announced that they had
contributed more than 50 percent of the $100m needed
to fight Boko Haram. They also called on Nigeria to
cooperate by allowing the multinational joint task force
to attack Boko Haram in its strongholds in Nigeria.
Boko Haram has fought a five-year insurgency, has
recently begun stepping up its attacks against
neighbouring countries after Cameroon, Niger, Chad and
Benin agreed to contribute troops toward a regional
military effort.
The violence has forced some 157,000 people to seek
refuge in Niger, while 40,000 others have gone to
Cameroon and 17,000 are in Chad, the UN said.
Almost one million Nigerians are internally displaced,
according to the country's own statistics.
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http://www.aljazeera.com/news/africa/2015/02/boko-haram-threatens-disrupt-nigeria-poll-150218042214031.html